{"id":3345,"date":"2010-12-31T12:41:29","date_gmt":"2010-12-31T17:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3345"},"modified":"2026-07-22T11:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:57:08","slug":"new-years-eve-shenanigans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3345","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Eve Shenanigans (by ljlover2001)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 A story written in response to the Chaps & Spurs January Challenge. \u00a0Ten year old Little Joe attends a New Years Eve party in town with his family and manages to get into trouble – quelle surprise! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K\u00a0 (2,025 words)
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

New Year’s Eve Shenigans<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Responsibility,\u2019<\/strong> thought Joe, as he lay face down on his bed. \u2018If I hear that word, one more time today, I think I will scream,\u2019 and he pounded his pillow, with his fists, to add substance to his words.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018First Adam, then Hoss. And finally Pa, all going on about the dreaded \u2018r\u2019 word. In fact Pa must\u2019ve said it every time his hand made contact with my butt. So, he said it at least six times, but I guess I lost count after that. It just ain\u2019t fair! I mean how many ten year olds do any of \u2018em know, who are responsible?\u2019 And he shuddered after he said the word, as though it had left a nasty taste in his mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Me and Mitch were just having a bit of fun. The party was so dull; all those grownups standing around jawing to each other. Might have been any ole day of the week, but it weren\u2019t, it was New Years and we wanted to have some fun. Okay, so the fun we had wasn\u2019t seen as being fun to everyone at the party; in fact I think it was only me and Mitch and maybe the little ones who we dressed up, thought it was fun, but the oldies sure didn\u2019t need to get so outta sorts about it. Pa said I should be taking this time to make some New Year resolutions and I guess he expects me to come up with ones like I will behave better this year, or ones like Adam came up with, as he made his grand entrance into the hall, last night \u2013 Here\u2019s to health, wealth and prosperity, for the coming year, but I\u2019m \u00a0not Adam, nor do I wanna be him. Since he\u2019s got back from college he\u2019s bin a bit of an ole sobersides, if you ask me; not that anyone does, ask me, that is. In fact, all they ever do is yell at me, or pound on me.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe tried to get comfortable, without allowing his backside to make contact with the bed.<\/span><\/p>\n

After his father left him, to think about what he had done, the boy stripped off his clothes and allowed himself a quick peak in the full length mirror, to check out his sore bottom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Maybe I should make a resolution, after all,\u2019 he thought, as he slipped his nightshirt over his head. \u2018I \u00a0resolve to stay away from Pa\u2019s hands; they are dangerous.\u2019 But then the boy started to think about the number of times that those same hands had gently stroked his face, or rubbed his back, or just hugged him tight, when nightmares woke him up and chased him from his bed and into his father\u2019s room, where he always felt safe and loved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I guess Pa\u2019s hands are not always bad, and I guess he would say that they are only dangerous when I do fool things and mess up, so maybe I don\u2019t need to promise to stay away from them, altogether,\u2019 thought Joe<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Joe returned to his bed and now that his bottom wasn\u2019t stinging, quite as much as it had been, he started to chuckle when he recalled what had happened at the New Year\u2019s Eve dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mitch and Joe rather felt they had drawn the short straw when Mitch\u2019s mother, Martha Devlin, told them to keep an eye on the younger members of the Devlin family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only night of the whole year that we get to stay up late, and now we\u2019ve gotta watch my little brother and sister, plus two of their friends,\u201d complained Mitch to Joe, after Martha had left them, to go and dance with her husband, George.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNever mind, Mitch,\u201d said Joe. \u201cWe can still have some fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, sometimes you are so stupid,\u201d exclaimed Mitch. \u201cI know that you don\u2019t have any younger brothers or sisters, but you have been around mine often enough, to know that if you wanna get up to some fun stuff, you don\u2019t do it with little squealers in tow. If I put a foot wrong, Patti or Luke will tell Ma or Pa, straight away, and I will be in big trouble. And that, my friend, also means that you will be in trouble, too, as Ma and Pa will tell your Pa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe pulled Mitch just far enough away from the little ones, so that he could talk to his friend, without being overheard.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how we were hoping to get hold of a drink to see the New Year in?\u201d and Mitch nodded. \u201cWell, if we give the little ones a drink, too, then they won\u2019t remember what we were getting up to. We can just give \u2018em some juice, spiked with a bit of something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat might work,\u201d said Mitch, warming to the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke, Patti, Meg and Josh followed Joe and Mitch around all evening. However, it wasn\u2019t that bad, because at ten years old, neither Joe nor Mitch were interested in girls and so at a dance they spent most of their time messing about and annoying their older siblings. Every time Adam, Hoss, Mary, Andy or Pete \u2013 Mitch\u2019s older brothers and sister, danced past them, the youngsters pulled silly faces, or tried to trip them up. The little ones were quite happy to do this, too, especially as Joe and Mitch had managed to get their hands on some alcohol and had given them some in their fruit juice.<\/span><\/p>\n

As it got closer to midnight, both Joe and Mitch were feeling rather merry and they came up with the idea of getting the two little boys, Luke and Josh, to be the first footers at the party.Both the boys were dark haired, but Joe and Mitch decided that they needed to be even darker.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst footers have to be dark and the darker they are, the better the good luck they bring, so I think we oughta black up their faces,\u201d said Joe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can we use to do that?\u201d asked Mitch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBurnt cork works best and there are loads of corks in the kitchen, from all those bottles of wine that have been drunk, tonight,\u201d said Joe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The boys sneaked into the kitchen and returned with several corks and some matches. They took the children out to the back of the hall, and soon had Josh and Luke\u2019s faces blacked up. They also helped themselves to a bottle of whisky, some salt, and some cookies, as they knew that first footers had to bring gifts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The little boys were happy to go along with Mitch and Joe\u2019s plan, but Patti, being a rather fastidious child, was rather concerned that her little brother was looking so dirty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMama doesn\u2019t like us getting that messy,\u201d she said, but the boys told her it would be okay.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what you do at New Years,\u201d said Mitch, who was more than a little tipsy. \u201cMama won\u2019t mind, just this once.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The bells in the church tower rang twelve times, and as the last chime died away, Joe and Mitch knocked on the door of the dance hall, and then pushed the two little boys into the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHAPPY NEW YEARS,\u201d shouted Luke and Josh.<\/span><\/p>\n

The music had stopped so that everyone could hear the bells chime in the New Year. All eyes were on the two boys, as they rather drunkenly made their way across the room to the Devlin party. When Martha saw that Luke was carrying a bottle of whisky and that his face was black, she was both angry and surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose boys are acting like they are drunk,\u201d said George to Martha.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI fear that there is more than a ring of truth in what you are saying, George,\u201d replied Martha.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe and Mitch, plus the two little girls, had slipped into the hall, while all eyes were on the little boys. Patti and Meg ran over to join Mr and Mrs Devlin, but Joe and Mitch stayed well away from parents and siblings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two boys could not help but laugh at the way the little ones looked, and at the reception they received. Suddenly, Little Joe felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t happen to know anything about why those kids are looking and acting the way they are, would you, little brother?\u201d asked Adam.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho me?\u201d said Joe, the picture of innocence, although he couldn\u2019t quite hold back the giggle that was desperate to escape from his mouth. \u201cWhy do you think I know anything about it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, maybe because you and Mitch were responsible for them and also because you two seem to be the only ones finding this to be amusing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAww, come on Adam,\u201d said Joe, the alcohol he had consumed making him even bolder than usual. \u201cWe ain\u2019t the only ones smiling. Having those two little one first footing is kinda funny, doncha think?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing two children, only five years old, the worse for drink, is not a source of amusement to me,\u201d said Adam.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it certainly isn\u2019t to me, either,\u201d said Ben, joining his sons. \u201cAnd neither is the fact that I strongly suspect that my ten year old son has also been imbibing in strong liquor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For reasons best known to Joe, he found his father\u2019s words hilarious, and he burst out laughing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPa, don\u2019t be such a stuff shirt. It\u2019s New Years, and we\u2019re celebrating, is all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is quite enough out of you, young man,\u201d shouted Ben. \u201cWe are going home and when I get you there I am going to show you just how unimpressed I am by this whole spectacle. But before we go, you are going over to Mr and Mrs Devlin and apologise to them. Now, march!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s words reverberated around Joe\u2019s befuddled brain and had the effect of sobering him up, real fast. Suddenly, what he\u2019d done didn\u2019t seem at all amusing to him. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton and he was having trouble swallowing. He made it across the room and somehow managed to mumble an apology to Martha and George. Mitch followed Joe and Ben and he, too, apologised to his parents. George, just like Ben had, made it very clear to Mitch that the two of them would be having a further discussion about his behaviour, once they reached home. The bottle of whisky and other items that had been removed from the kitchen were returned and Luke and Josh were cleaned up. By then, most of the partygoers had gone home and the Devlin and Cartwright families followed suit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, none of the children suffered any ill effects from the small amount of alcohol that they had consumed, but Mitch received the same treatment from his father as Joe did from Ben.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe was almost asleep when Ben returned to his room to say goodnight.<\/span><\/p>\n

He looked down on his youngest boy and marvelled again at just how much he looked like his mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe smiled at his father, confident in the knowledge that Ben would have already forgiven him for his misbehaviour.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you been thinking, Little Joe, like I told you to?\u201d asked Ben.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe stifled a yawn and replied, \u201cYes, I have Pa. I\u2019ve been thinking that I\u2019m real lucky to have a Pa like you, who loves me enough to wanna keep me safe, and see to it that I grow up to be a decent man. I love you, Papa. Happy New Year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I love you, too, son,\u201d said Ben, giving Joe a kiss goodnight. \u201cHappy New Year, Little Joe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0THE END<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Little Joe forever<\/span><\/p>\n

LynneJanuary 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 A story written in response to the Chaps & Spurs January Challenge. \u00a0Ten year old Little Joe attends a New Years Eve party in town with his family and manages to get into trouble – quelle surprise!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Rated:\u00a0K\u00a0 (2,025 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":14847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chaps-spurs","category-challenges","wpcat-39-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/New-Years.jpg?fit=191%2C263&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}